Albright asks Senate to delay treaty vote

WASHINGTON (AP) - With the Senate poised to reject a treaty banning nuclear weapons tests, the Clinton administration appealed Thursday for a delay in the vote so it can try to muster support for it.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright made the pitch to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with the argument the treaty was too important to be considered in the compressed time frame arranged by Republican leaders.

But the panel's chairman and a leading critic of the test ban, Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., said President Clinton must withdraw the treaty from consideration until after next year's presidential election if he wants Tuesday's scheduled vote called off.

And Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi proceeded with plans to begin debate on the Senate floor today.

Backers of the treaty, which has been signed by 154 nations but ratified by only two major powers, Britain and France, privately acknowledged they could not amass the 67 votes needed for U.S. ratification.

Albright told the foreign relations committee at day's end that "the leadership ought to find a way to give the treaty the careful consideration it deserves at a later date."

"I hope the senators who now oppose the CTBT (comprehensive test ban treaty) or who are undecided will think very carefully about what the consequences would be if the treaty were not approved," she said.